Cities and towns could piggyback on state's new reverse 911 system to save money

By Neil Vigdor, Staff Writer

Published 6:43 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

Connecticut will become the first state in the nation to roll out a reverse 911 system, one that town public safety officials are looking to piggyback on to try to save money.

A spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell said the new notification system should be up and running by Sept. 1 and will enable the state to send out critical information to residents and businesses by telephone to landlines and mobile devices, text message, e-mail and fax during emergencies.

"The governor is pretty proud that Connecticut is leading the nation with this initiative," said Rell spokesman Adam Liegeot. "It has the potential to save many lives."

The system will cost an estimated $1.4 million to set up and maintain during its first year and $650,000 annually thereafter, according to Liegeot, who said the initiative is being funded with 911 fees charged by phone carriers.

Everbridge, a Glendale, Calif.-based emergency notification service, won the contract through a competitive bidding process, Liegeot said. The name of the system chosen by the state is Everbridge Aware, which allows messages to be sent out from a phone or via the Internet.

Daniel Warzoha, the emergency management director and former Greenwich fire chief, said the new system could eliminate the need for cities and towns to have their own.

"It could definitely have some savings for the town of Greenwich," Warzoha said.

Greenwich introduced a reverse 911 system two years ago that it has relied upon to disseminate messages during winter storms, such as nor'easters, and sewer main breaks.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has paid for the entire $58,000 annual cost of operating the system up until now, but is about to run out.

Several neighboring municipalities such as Stamford, New Canaan, Darien and Norwalk have similar notification systems, according to Warzoha, who is the incident management team commander for the 14-town region that makes up southwestern Connecticut.

"I think the objective here is to provide an equal playing field for every municipality large and small throughout the state and give them the value of the use of the system," Warzoha said.

The system Greenwich uses, Connect-CTY, which is operated by Washington, D.C.-based Blackboard Inc., does not have the capability to send text messages or faxes, Warzoha said.

The town's contract with Blackboard is set to expire in November, according to Warzoha, who plans to do an analysis to see if Greenwich can get the same features using the state system.

Warzoha said his understanding of the state's new notification system is that it will allow for highly localized alerts that municipal public safety officials would be able to send out directly from their city or town.

"You could break it down to a small geographic area," Warzoha said.

The governor's spokesman said it is envisioned that state and local public safety officials will collaborate on sending out notifications.

"The governor wants this system to be used only in life-threatening situations," Liegeot said. "So, for example, if a tornado was approaching Greenwich or Fairfield County, that would be a case where this system would be used."

What type of access to the system local first responders will get has yet to be determined, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety said.